104 Iowa L. Rev. 287 (2018)

Download PDF

Abstract

This Article examines a major challenge related to the Internet of Things: the sharing of data, as presented in the context of medical software. In particular, it examines the tensions between manufacturers and patients with respect to access to data generated from implantable medical devices. Patients argue that they do not have sufficient access to the data, and they do not control what could happen to the information collected from their devices. While manufacturers recognize that patients have some right to access their own medical data, they do not believe it outweighs their intellectual property rights in controlling access to the information.

The Article recommends a disclosure spectrum from which to frame the sharing of information, one that takes a nuanced approach to what might be shared. Determining how and what to share is challenging, and the Article suggests a closer inquiry into the nature and scope of the data requested in arriving at an appropriate response. This framework for thinking about how to balance data access rights, might also be useful more generally, as we continue to face similar questions with other interconnected devices in the Internet of Things.